Catholic Commentary on Psalm 117

"Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever." (Psalm 117:1-2)

The Shortest and the Greatest

Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm, only two verses, and yet it contains the fullest missionary vision in the entire Psalter. Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD. The audience is not Israel. It is all nations, all peoples. The reason for their praise is the love and faithfulness that God has shown to Israel, but the beneficiaries of that praise are the nations themselves.

St. Paul quotes this psalm in Romans 15:11 as one of his proof texts for the universal scope of the Gospel. The nations are called to praise the God of Israel because in Christ, the God of Israel has become the God of all. The Catechism cites the missionary mandate as flowing from the very nature of the Trinity: the God who is love by nature is the God who sends his love to all nations (CCC 850). Two verses, the whole Gospel. The faithfulness of the LORD endures forever: this is the promise that undergirds every act of evangelisation. He will not fail.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the shortest psalm carries the longest vision: all nations, all peoples, forever. Your parish is one node in a network that is supposed to reach all nations. What is your parish doing to participate in that reach? And what are you personally doing to share the love and faithfulness that have been shown to you with someone who has not yet heard?

Prayer

Praise the LORD, all you nations. Extol him, all you peoples. Great is his love toward us and his faithfulness endures forever. Lord God, let this two-verse psalm be the summary of our lives: all nations praising you, all peoples extolling your name. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.